The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast (Matador) Surgical instruments, hair, crayfish: San Francisco's electro-experimental duo Matmos has always made use of such things to best portray their lo-fi work's inner soul. That they have done so with increasingly clever catchiness is scarier than the items they've utilized to achieve their tall-tale-telling goals. For Rose, Matmos teams with Antony, the Kronos Quartet and Bjork to relay its cinematic verities, toying with the literal (molars as percussion)

There is a lot to be said for tradition in the arts, and The Nutcracker is a genteel and deserving one. But for an exciting cultural experience, hardly anything beats the sensory onslaught of something new and awe-inspiring. That is what dance fans who ventured out to Universal's Hard Rock Live got Friday night in Orlando Ballet's Holiday Triple Treat Rocks! -- a high-spirited, three-part program for the Nutcracker-weary that repeats tonight. Salim Gauwloos, from whom Orlando Ballet commissioned one world premiere and got two, seemed to fire every synapse and activate every muscle group in the 14-member cast that danced his I Breathe You In. An edgy, urban take on complex social relationships, this dance is as cerebral as it is visceral, with pulsating patterns that echo through the ensemble, then segue into a moody duet for Zoica Tovar and Israel Rodriguez.

Kronos Quartet, Nuevo (Nonesuch): Sometimes, it takes outsiders to find fresh perspectives on a musical culture that natives take for granted. On this brilliant album, Argentine rock producer Gustavo Santaolalla teams with Kronos, the experimental U.S. string quartet, to create a revealing, impressionistic portrait of Mexican music, from the corrido to the classical. Although the 14 tracks span a century, the album's innovative interpretations earn its title, which means "new." Most of its bold arrangements are by Osvaldo Golijov, the Argentina-born composer and longtime collaborator of the San Francisco quartet, which has made a career of cross-cultural explorations.

**** Frank Zappa/Ensemble Modern, The Yellow Shark (Barking Pumpkin/ Rhino): The late Frank Zappa is well-served here, in his classical composer guise, by Germany's 25-piece Ensemble Modern. (The Ensemble has been aptly described as a larger, less pop-oriented Kronos Quartet.)Zappa's prostate cancer limited his participation in these live 1992 recordings - he served as emcee for two nights in Frankfurt, Germany, and conducted just three pieces. But Zappa wrote new pieces and specially arranged some of his classics in this suite tailored for the Ensemble Modern.